Milwaukee Brewers Rumors: Trying to acquire Mets’ Zack Wheeler Again?

The Milwaukee Brewers almost acquired Zack Wheeler from the New York Mets three years ago. Now, they have interest in doing it again.

The Brewers are in need of adding a starting pitcher by Tuesday’s Trade Deadline. It’s no surprise that they’ve been rumored to be connected to most of the names on the trade market after a rash of injuries in the rotation. The latest player they’ve been connected to is Zack Wheeler of the Mets.

This season, Wheeler is showing signs of improvement. He has a 4.33 ERA in 19 starts, but his FIP of 3.68 reveals that he’s actually been better than his ERA would indicate. Wheeler has struck out 109 batters in 114.1 innings pitched.

A Different Kind of Interest

The 28 year old righty was going to be the centerpiece of the Carlos Gomez deal back in 2015 as a 25 year old prospect coming off of Tommy John surgery. Back then, the Milwaukee Brewers were sellers as Doug Melvin was looking to get a rebuild underway. They had their eyes on Wheeler for what he could do in the future.

Now, the Brewers are looking at Wheeler again, but as buyers, looking to add an established big leaguer to their team for a playoff push.

Wheeler’s Contract

Wheeler is not under team control for as long as his current teammates Noah Syndergaard or Jacob DeGrom. But, he’s still under contract for next season, making him someone worth acquiring.

Even though he missed two full seasons with that Tommy John surgery, Wheeler had as much ace potential as anyone in that Mets rotation. He’s shown some signs of reaching his lofty ceiling this year, and will still be getting better the rest of this year and next season as well.

Wheeler will cost less than adding a DeGrom or Syndergaard, but he’ll still be relatively expensive to acquire. The Mets view him as an ace and have had a reportedly high asking price on him. There are a lot of teams with interest and the Brewers could find themselves in a bidding war considering the lack of other starters on the market.

With five days remaining until the Trade Deadline, the Milwaukee Brewers will have a couple moves to make before the dust settles next Tuesday.